people: November 2008 Archives

We've all seen those photos that just grab at our hearts and twist. It's the 104-year old military veteran saluting the American flag, the 17-year old boy crying after a wrestling loss, the little kid nearly strangling a kitten with a loving hug.

'H' in The Best Rice is human interest. How could anyone look at this photo above without doing a double take at the contrast in size-- and want to know more? Neo-natologist (premature baby doctor) Dr. Jon Liss put his high school ring onto his current patient's arm and it slipped to the baby's elbow while in the York Hospital neonatal unit.

Jon's manner around the babies, his patience and compassion for little ones was remarkable. This picture showed the contrast of their sizes (Jon is as big as some National Football League players) and most of the rules of composition went out the window.

Get the best shot. If it's strong enough, the viewer/reader won't mind that some of the rules might have been broken.

In an 11-point study in composition I got together quite a few years ago, each letter in THE BEST RICE corresponds with something to keep in mind as I take my next picture. Check the previous blog entry, called Entrance and Exit.

Now, it works for me and we passed it on to correspondents who shot pictures for the York Daily Record. But yours might be different. One reader, Brian Hermans, came up with his own at my request, and while it's different, it makes plenty of sense. I'll be including his list soon.

The first "T" to remember is the Three Hundred Sixty Degree Rule. Imagine your picture from a different angle; maybe shooting into the sun, maybe higher or lower; maybe from behind. And look at 360 degrees as time, as well. Would the photo look better in the morning sun, or evening? Maybe at night?

Or as this photo shows, shoot from higher or lower perspectives than what people usually see. Fellow YDR photographer Jason Plotkin always searches for high or low angles-- he's always searching for something 'different good". And "different good" is terrific, but "different bad" is awful. Find a different angle, but keep in mind what you're trying to show. If you confuse the viewer with convoluted lines, colors, subjects, he's gone.

This picture was taken from a man-basket dangling from a crane while workmen built a 'dish" frame (radio, telelphone, I don't remember) atop the smokestack at Pershing Avenue and Philadelphia Street in York. The Codorus Creek is near the top, with Philadelphia Street bridge over it.

Yep, we could have gotten the shot from below, but it would have shown nothing that anyone else had already seen while driving past. I was harnessed in the bucket, the workman was tied off. Everyone was safe, but the photo doesn't make it seem that way.

In THE BEST RICE, a list of points of composition I put together a while back where each letter corresponds to a photographic point, entrance and exit is one "e".

Here, in this photo of Brigus, Newfoundland, the tiny road leads up to the town. From there, let your eye wander over the churches, the wall of rocky mountains, the colorful fall colors and the man walking his dog.

Newfoundland is a wonderful place to visit, and during any time of the year, you'll find photos worth framing at every turn. The ferry trip to the west side of the island is about six hours, the east side about 17 hours. Once on the island, view the icebergs, moose, whales, and enjoy the company of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. And you won't have to fight the elbow-to-elbow tourists as you would on Alaska cruises.

While at the Brigus Blueberry Festival, we sampled all the local food, including fish and brewis, fried cod tongues and cod jerky. Being an island, much of the economy is based on fishing, and they eat what they catch. For a recipe for fish and brewis, click here. For a recipe for fried cod tongues, click here. The latter recipe I gleaned from Joyces Fine Cooking. Honest. Be aware, both are very, very salty.

The scenery is varied, from Scandanavian-looking fiords to forests to sparse tundra. Remember, they don't call Newfoundland "The Rock" for nothing.